What Did You Expect?
by HighWay2Expression
Summary: Nathan and Haley never thought that they could ever stand each other, but now that they are forced to, they start to see each other in a different light...
1. Default Chapter

Haley walked down the hallway and entered her 3rd period classroom. She found a desk and took her seat. Not much later, Lucas came and sat down beside her.   
  
"Gosh, I just love Literature class. The smell of notebooks and pens, the books, the assignments that make you think outside the box, the depth and feeling of the stories, man, I just love it all."  
  
Lucas just looked at her with a smile and a raised eyebrow. He shook his head.   
  
"You are really weird Hales, you know that?"  
  
"Hey, you know what a weird word is? Weird. And you know what else is a weird word? The word "word". I mean, just think about it. Who comes up with this stuff? Was someone just randomly walking around one day and heard somebody mutter a sound that could possibly turn into a form of communication? Or was it just pre-determined in minds? Was it just an instinct to start talking?"  
  
"Apparently for you it is. I take that back, you're not weird. You belong in an insane asylum." Lucas said as he got his CD player out of his backpack.  
  
"Thank ya, thank ya very much." Haley replied. "I just can't help it, ya know, I just love Lit class!" She turned around just in time to see Nathan walk into the room with his friends. "I changed my mind. I hate literature class."  
  
Lucas shook his head and laughed lightly.  
  
At that point, the teacher entered the room. "I'm sorry I'm late class, it seems that SOMEONE took the liberty of making 500 copies of a paper that said, 'Don't play with knives… Matches are cooler.' And posting them up all around the teacher's lounge."  
  
Nathan's friends leaned forward and patted him on the back and gave him high-fives. He smiled a cocky smile. Haley rolled her eyes and opened up her notebook, and then focused on the teacher.  
  
"Ok, alright. The first project of the semester is coming up. I call this one 'A day in the life of a Stranger.' Well, it's going to be more like a month in the life of a stranger, because that's how long I'm giving you to do this project. You and whoever you are paired with will walk each other through a week in each other's lives. I don't care however you rotate it, all I want is for you to have a good and enriching experience living someone else's life. Oh yeah, that and a 3 page report."  
  
Sighs and groans filled the room.  
  
"Anyway, today we will be picking partners in the next few minutes."  
  
All the kids started to talk among themselves and pick partners.   
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I say 'We'? I meant Me. You didn't really think I would trust you to choose partners for a project that is worth ¼ of your grade did you? " Another round of sighs.  
  
"Ok, that's enough. Everyone quiet down. I'm starting. Ok, our first pair is Abby McAden and Brian Maxi Parks. The next pair is…." The teacher's voice faded into the back round. Nathan and his friends were fooling around making faces and playing Chinese football. Lucas leaned over to Haley. "Imagine getting paired with one of those guys."   
  
Haley laughed. "Yeah, you'd probably end up coming to school wearing a basketball jersey and failing math."  
  
"Ha, yeah, and your eyes would be permanently crossed from being bored out of your mind."  
  
"Yes, that would be terrible." Haley replied. She laughed lightly and then sighed, again focusing back on the teacher.  
  
"Ok, who's next? Lucas and Jake." Lucas smiled. "At least it's not Nathan." He laughed. Haley was getting a little anxious. She hadn't been called yet, and neither had… "No. Don't even think it." She just kept tapping her pencil and looking down at her notebook.  
  
"Ok….Who's left? Alright, Haley James and…..ah, here it is. Nathan Scott." Nathan's head shot up, but Haley didn't notice what he had said yet. There was an awkward silence. Haley sensed everyone staring at her. She slowly lifted her head. Then it hit her. "WHAT???" she exclaimed.  
  
They both stood up. Nathan protested. "Mr. Gledhill! There is no way I am going to be paired with… with…."   
  
"THAT!" they exclaimed in unison. Mr. Gledhill dismissed the rest of the class. Haley turned to Lucas. He shrugged his shoulders and left the room with the others.  
  
"Come to my desk." The two teens approached. "I'm sorry kids, but unless you can give me a sufficient reason why you can't be paired together, my decision is final."  
  
"I can give you a few good reasons!" Nathan said.  
  
"He's a jerk!"  
  
"She's a geek!"  
  
"Well, at least I'M passing all my classes!"  
  
"Are you saying I'm stupid?" they argued back and forth.  
  
"Kids! Stop arguing! This isn't the point of the project. It is to get to know each other, possibly make a friend!."  
  
"But we're not even in the same groups!" Nathan complained.  
  
"We are two totally different people!" Haley added.  
  
"That's the point! The assignment is to experience a taste of the life of a person who is strange to you! Listen, this is what I'll do. You have an entire month to do this. Try it out. If you are still having problems, then come to me and I'll pair you with someone else."  
  
"But my friends will make fun of me!" Nathan protested.  
  
"Is that all you care about? Basketball and your friends?" Haley asked.  
  
"Than blame it on me. That is my offer. Take it or leave it…or fail."  
  
"Fine!" said Nathan.  
  
"Fine!" said Haley as they both stormed out of the room.  
  
The teacher sat down. "Teenagers," he sighed. 


	2. If You Think I'm Crazy You May Be Right

Part 2  
Haley walked out of the room into the hall and watched Nathan storm off. "Gosh, what is his problem?" Just then, Lucas came up to her. "Wow, that sucks."  
"Sucks? Sucks is an understatement!! I don't know how I'm going to survive this next month!! Ahhh!!!" Haley vented. "What a great way to start off the weekend. I suggest you start as soon as possible so you can get it over with. Either that or transfer to a different school. " Lucas laughed. "You're taking this surprising well. What's the deal? Are you two conspiring behind my back?" "Me? And Nathan? Talking? Yeah, right. And by the way, I saw a pig fly by this morning." "You finished yet?" She asked crossly. Obviously humor wasn't making her feel better. "Come on, let's go to the café. We'll order your favorite dish, my treat." Lucas offered with a smile. "You don't even have to pay." She replied. "I know. That's why I can afford it." He laughed. "Fine, but we better be back in time for 5th period. There is no way I am missing Mr. Smith's Math lecture." "You really are strange," he stared at her. She hit him in the arm playfully. "Come on, let's get going." She said as they both headed for the café.  
  
The day went by extremely slowly, which was no surprise to Haley. It seemed that life liked to prolong her misery whenever it had a chance. She couldn't believe it. Nathan Scott. This was going to be torture. But now it was over. She re-entered Mr. Gledhill's classroom, hoping to change his mind about the whole project. The teacher greeted her as she passed his desk.  
"Good afternoon," he said with a smile.  
"What's so good about it?" she said with a sarcastic yet joking tone.  
"Haley, is their something you would like to talk to me about?" he asked with a knowing expression.  
"Well, it's just that...well..." she started. "Oh Haley, are you still mad about the project with Nathan?" he interrupted. "Yes! What did I do to deserve to deserve such torture? I do all my homework, I hand everything in on time, and I pay attention to you during class! Why do you pain me so?" she yelled dramatically. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for it to be such a burden on you," he said apologetically.  
"I know you didn't."  
"It's just that I didn't trust anyone else to not tear his head off after 15 minutes with him, and I was a little disappointed this morning because I know that you could turn this into a good experience if you try," he said. "That's just the kind of person you are. So will you try for me? And if he makes it too hard for you, I won't hesitate to fail him, and give you the grade you deserve."  
"I guess I could try," she gave in.  
"Now that's the Haley I know," He smiled. "Thanks Haley. I'm really proud of you." She smiled as she turned and walked out. "No problem," she sighed. Nathan was walking by the classroom as Haley walked out. He gave her a dirty look. She huffed in disgust.  
"Hold on, Nathan, come in here," the teacher called him into the classroom. Haley remained outside the door and listened in on the conversation. She could hear perfectly.  
"And if you give her any problems, I will not hesitate to fail you and make you repeat this class in summer school. Do you understand?" the teacher finished saying. Nathan huffed.  
"Yea," he grumbled under his breath as he walked out. Haley was leaning on the wall outside the classroom with an extremely satisfied look on her face. He gave her another dirty look and walked in the opposite direction.  
"See you tomorrow, bright and early," she said in a sweet but obviously fake voice. She was in control now. She liked it, and they both knew it.  
Nathan huffed again and walked faster. Haley soon dropped the smile. 'We better get an A on this thing,' she said to herself. 'There is no way I am spending my summer teaching HIM in summer school.' She shook her head as she left down the opposite end of the hall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~  
  
The next day was Saturday. Nathan woke up to a knock on the door. He was the only one home. His mom had errands to run, and his dad had gone to work. The knock came again. Nathan reluctantly got up and answered the door. He rubbed his eyes. "Hello?"  
"Ok. This is the deal. Listen well because I'm not saying this again." "What are you doing here?" he asked extremely confused.  
"We are partners whether we like it or not. So this is how it's going to be. We start today. The sooner we start the sooner we can go back to ignoring each other, alright? Mr. Gledhill gave us an instruction guide with what we need to learn about each other. Now go get dressed. I don't want to spend any unnecessary time hanging around each other."  
"Do you have any clue what time it is?" Nathan asked, seemingly only half-conscious. "We're wasting time! Go!" she said impatiently. "I think you're crazy," he said sleepily as he made his way back upstairs.  
Haley pushed her hair back and sighed. "I think you may be right," she mumbled. 


	3. Flash Back

Haley stood awkwardly in the Scott's living room. How she ended up there was a big blur to her; never in a million years would she have ever thought this day would come. It was one of the unknown wonders of the earth. If this situation wasn't making history, she didn't know another that would. 'Most girls would love to be here,' she thought. But she wasn't happy to be there- it was almost depressing.  
Haley's mind wandered off to the first time she had ever met Nathan Scott. This was usually a miserable thought for most people she knew, but her first experience with him wasn't like everyone else's. She knew another side to the attitude and persona that engulfed him. To everyone else, Nathan Scott had always been the exceedingly rich, incredibly talented, sickeningly lucky and cocky spoiled brat with the biggest attitude from here to Buffalo. But a long time ago, nobody thought of him that way. As she looked back at it, life seemed so much more different. They had been like different people; it had been like another world. This was the only thing they had in common- the story that only they knew.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~  
He had seen her fail at everything. Almost everything she failed at, he witnessed it. He had witnessed everything- the pain, the humiliation, the shame, and the overwhelming sense of defeat.  
It had started a while back- when they were about 6 years old. They had gone to the same summer camp together, and he was always around. He was a seemingly pleasant little boy; very nice, compassionate, innocent, and cute as anything. They never really talked the whole 5 weeks that they were there, but he had made scared young Haley feel better to be away from her parents for the first time. It was a great feeling- enough to make her want to go back year after year until they were 12.  
Camp was always fun for her. She spent every birthday there for six years, and always had a great party. The counselors and camp-mates always made her birthday special. Camp memories were always the best. But her 12th birthday would be the last birthday she would spend there.  
It had been around the 2nd week of camp that year, and what should have been a joyous time for Haley was the start of a string of bad experiences that would shape the worst phase of her entire life.  
As an 11 year old, there was only one thing that she was interested in; one thing that she had her sights set on. It didn't seem like much now, but back then, it meant everything to her. The one thing she wanted was the Tree Hill Summer Camp Annual Performance Competition Trophy. Every year, there was a small performance put on by the kids at the camp for parents, friends and relatives. It was an ensemble of acting, dancing, comedy, and singing. After the performance, the five most talented kids from ages 11 to 14 would be selected to compete in a contest. First prize was the trophy, along with their picture in the newspaper, $50 cash prize, and a chance to sing the National Anthem at a local minor-league stadium on opening night. Second prize was similar- name in the paper instead of a picture, $25 dollars cash prize, and gift certificate for 2 free CD's from FYE. Young Haley lusted after the trophy and the chance to show her talent to the world (or at least all of Tree Hill). She had been singing almost since birth; her life long dream was to be a famous singer one day. She was almost 12 at the time, so it wasn't a very long life-long dream, but she invested everything she had in it, and it was the one thing she knew she could do. This was her chance. Never once did she think about what would happen if she lost.  
Camp that year had mostly consisted of training for the big event. Every minute Haley fantasized about what it would be like when the judges handed her that beautiful trophy, and how great it would feel to be the center of attention. Being the middle child, she always thirsted for the attention her siblings got, and savored every moment that she could get it. The training was vigorous, but Haley loved every minute of it. Her small eyes were on the prize- nothing could stop her.  
As the days until the competition grew closer, Haley could hardly wait. She had looked forward to this since the first time she watched the older kids compete during the first year of camp. She was ahead of every other child there, and the counselors noticed. They encouraged her every chance they got. They were sure she would win. As they trained, to Haley it seemed like no one else was there. When the day before the competition came, Haley went to sleep that night with not an ounce of nervousness, but with the sweet dreams of success filling her thoughts.  
The sun rose that day, awakening the youngsters from their sound slumber. Haley was ecstatic, but she didn't talk to anyone else. Even though she didn't say a word, everyone knew what she was thinking by the smile on her face. At 9:00 the counselors ushered the little kids out to the large out-door stage where parents, relatives, and friends waited anxiously to see their children. To most, the competition wasn't a competition at all. It was merely a fun performance and another chance to get out of the house. But to Haley, this was a dream come true.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sorry it's kind of short. Chapter 4 is already in progress. I have a good idea where I'm going w/ the next couple chapters but if anyone had any ideas for later in the story, email them to me or post them w/ your review. They are much appreciated. Check my profile page cuz I put author's notes and stuff up there a lot. Thanks for everyone who's reviewing ( ~~~Abby Jeanne 


	4. Notes

Young Haley stood in awe and wonder at the bright stage in front of her. It was beautiful. This was her dream from the time she was little, and now was her chance. As the camp counselors told the young contestants to take their seats, Haley kept her eyes on the stage. A calm anticipation filled her small body as she watched the other kids show off their talents. They were excellent at what they did, and Haley couldn't wait to show them up. One by one the kids went up, and it seemed to take forever. Haley's anticipation turned to impatience as she squirmed in her chair. Finally, they called her name. Everyone smiled as the little girl with bright brown eyes took the stage.

Author's Note I am choosing to discontinue this story for basically 2 reasons—1) I don't have time to write it. 2) I don't even have time to watch the show anymore so here is what I am planning to do (if it is possible)—I want to give the story to someone else to write. A lot of people seem to like it, so I want someone who has the time and skills to finish the story. If u r interested please email me. If u want I will tell the person the way I was going to take the story—I just need someone to tell me how I will be able to "pass the baton" so to speak. I don't want to get into trouble lol. -Abbs


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